Introduction:
Have I Built My House on the Rock? (Matthew 7:24-29)
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Is My House BUILT on OBEDIENCE. (Matt 7:24, 26)
John 14:15 – If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
John 14:15 – If you <don't> love me, you will <not> keep my commandments.
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Will My House WITHSTAND the STORMS. (Matt 7:25, 27)
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Have I Built My House Under JESUS’ AUTHORITY. (Matt 7:28-29)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:40-00:43
Open up those Bibles to Matthew chapter 7.
00:44-00:54
I'm just going to ask if we pause for a second, if you would please just pray for me to clearly communicate the Word of God.
00:54-01:01
And I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us today.
01:03-01:08
Father, we believe Your Holy Spirit is always at work with Your Word.
01:11-01:18
I just pray, Father, today that You would grant us the faith to respond.
01:21-01:22
Glorify Your name.
01:24-01:27
We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
01:28-01:30
Matthew 7. Are you there?
01:31-01:42
You know, I was thinking back, Way back to when I was in school, do you remember those little contests and games they would have for all the students at school?
01:43-01:46
How many people, show of hands, remember Book It?
01:46-01:48
Anybody remember Book It?
01:48-01:50
Way more than I was expecting, okay?
01:50-02:00
Some people I mentioned Book It to, and they're like, "What's that?" Well, if you don't know, Book It, well, you read like so many books a month, and then you would get a coupon for?
02:01-02:04
for a pizza, for a personal pan pizza.
02:05-02:11
And I'll tell you, when I was in elementary school, that personal pan pizza, man.
02:12-02:21
But then there was always the kid in class that was like, "I go to read the books, but mom won't let me have the pizza." And he would have like a stack of book and coupons.
02:23-02:24
How about this contest?
02:24-02:26
How many people remember the spelling bee?
02:26-02:27
How many people, how about this?
02:27-02:31
How many show of hands, how many people were in a spelling bee?
02:31-02:31
Raise your hand.
02:32-02:32
All right.
02:35-02:44
I came in second place one year and I won a $50 savings bond.
02:48-02:49
You're laughing.
02:51-02:53
What was I, third or fourth grade?
02:53-02:55
I thought I was gonna retire.
02:56-02:57
(audience laughing)
02:57-02:59
And then they're like, oh no, no, no.
02:59-03:04
You have to wait like 100 years for it to mature and reach its value.
03:04-03:08
And then it got to the point when it finally did, it was like kind of a nuisance.
03:08-03:16
Like, "Oh, I gotta figure out how to cast this stupid thing in." I was on board with BookIt. I was on board with the Spelling Bee.
03:16-03:19
But do you know one contest I could never get on board with?
03:20-03:24
I couldn't do it. I absolutely refused to participate.
03:27-04:02
the balsa wood bridge how many people show of hands know what I'm talking about with that okay well a lot less for those of you that don't know there was a contest where you had to build a bridge out of balsa wood and it can only weigh so much and then there was a contest where they would put pressure on the bridge to make it explode and it was to see like who could build the bridge that withstand the most pressure before it was destroyed.
04:04-04:17
I couldn't bring myself to spend all that time building something that was going to be destroyed.
04:20-04:31
I I couldn't bring myself to spend all that time building something that I knew was going to be destroyed.
04:37-04:41
Going into the close of the Sermon on the Mount, I hope that is your conviction as well.
04:43-05:06
I hope every single one of us leave here, every single one who is listening to this, Lands on that conviction, "I can't bring myself to build something just to be destroyed." Look at verses 24-27, we're talking about the heart of judgment.
05:06-05:09
Jesus talked about entering the narrow gate.
05:10-05:12
It's hard to find, it's hard to walk.
05:14-05:16
and He warned us of false prophets.
05:19-05:25
These people saying they represent the Word of God, and they don't, and they're pointing people to the wide gate, to hell.
05:26-05:29
And last week, Pastor Taylor talked about self -deception.
05:29-05:45
There are going to be people standing before the Lord someday ready for the red carpet into heaven, and Jesus is going to say, "I never knew you." This is how Jesus closes the sermon.
05:47-05:57
He says, "Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
05:59-06:07
And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
06:10-06:17
and everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
06:18-06:24
And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell.
06:24-06:33
And great was the fall of it." It's a simple story, isn't it?
06:33-06:36
Two men building their respective houses.
06:37-06:52
There was a wise man said, "I'm going to build my house on a rock." And then there was a foolish man who said, "I'm going to build my house on sand." Let's talk about that fool for a second.
06:52-06:57
Why in the world would you build on sand?
06:59-07:00
It's easier.
07:02-07:03
It's way easier.
07:05-07:08
Sand is so much easier to dig than dirt.
07:08-07:11
It's a lot easier to dig into than rock.
07:13-07:18
Well, the fool, he pays no attention to any of the rules for building.
07:18-07:19
He knows it all.
07:19-07:21
You just can't teach that guy anything.
07:24-07:25
And he doesn't think ahead.
07:28-07:29
But then you have the wise man.
07:31-07:34
He wants to build durably.
07:37-07:41
It's way harder, but he wants it to last.
07:45-07:52
You see, when Jesus was talking about the rains and the winds and the floods, his audience would have immediately identified with that.
07:52-08:03
The ground was so hard and so dry that the rain wouldn't get soaked up very quickly and floods would happen in an instant when it would rain.
08:07-08:15
The storms revealed the kind of foundation that each house had.
08:18-08:22
The storms revealed the heart of each builder.
08:26-08:30
Well, you look at Jesus' story, builders had a lot in common, right?
08:32-08:34
They were both building a house.
08:34-08:36
They both experienced storms.
08:36-08:40
There's really no obvious difference between the houses.
08:41-08:46
I mean, on the surface, they both looked great.
08:48-08:49
So what was the difference?
08:50-08:57
You're like, "Oh, I know what the difference is." The difference, Pastor Jeff, is what happens to the houses during the storms.
09:00-09:03
That's not really the difference.
09:06-09:11
That is just the consequence of the real difference.
09:13-09:17
The real difference is what the house is built on, the foundation.
09:17-09:22
Jesus is talking about your heart, and we've been talking about this since February.
09:22-09:24
God wants your heart.
09:28-09:46
The real difference with the people sitting there listening to Jesus and the people who have been sitting here listening to these sermons, the real difference is whether or not the Sermon on the Mount made it from your ears to your brain, to your hearts.
09:49-09:58
Based on what you do with the Word of God, you're either going to stand strong or you're gonna collapse.
10:01-10:02
You'll lose everything.
10:05-10:12
The question that Jesus challenges you with as he ends his sermon is this, have you built your house on the rock?
10:13-10:13
That's the question.
10:15-10:16
You have to ask yourself this.
10:17-10:19
So on your outline, I want you to jot some things down.
10:20-10:23
Ask yourself, have I built my house on the rock?
10:26-10:34
Well, Jesus doesn't want us wondering whether or not our house is built on the rock.
10:34-10:41
So here's some questions to ask yourself that will give you the answer as to whether or not your house is built on the rock.
10:41-10:42
Number one, write this down.
10:43-10:44
Is my house built on obedience?
10:45-10:47
Is my house built on obedience?
10:54-10:58
Okay, so in Jesus' story, What does the rock represent?
10:59-11:02
It's funny, I did a lot of reading this past week.
11:02-11:03
What does the rock mean?
11:03-11:04
What does the rock mean?
11:04-11:08
And there are some that say, well, the rock is obviously God, right?
11:09-11:15
Well, God sometimes is referred to as a rock, but in this context, that's not what Jesus is saying.
11:15-11:19
He explicitly tells us what the rock is.
11:20-11:21
Look at verse 24.
11:21-11:30
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
11:30-11:35
The rock is obedience to the word of God, according to Jesus.
11:35-11:36
That's the rock.
11:37-11:38
Well, what does the sand represents?
11:40-11:43
Again, it's obvious, verse 26.
11:43-11:52
Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
11:53-11:54
What is sand?
11:55-11:56
Does not do.
11:56-11:57
It's no obedience.
11:58-11:59
It's self-centeredness.
11:59-12:01
It's I do what I wanna do.
12:04-12:10
It's coming to church saying, oh, oh, pastor, give me the word, but don't tell me how to live.
12:10-12:12
Don't tell me how to spend my money.
12:12-12:16
Don't tell me that my favorite sin is wrong, but give me the word.
12:20-12:25
And there's some who are sitting here that want heaven.
12:27-12:32
And they want all of the stuff associated with church.
12:33-12:36
You like coming to church because it makes you feel religious.
12:36-12:45
You want all of the nice sounding parts of following Jesus, but you don't want to be Christ-like.
12:46-12:49
And that is a problem.
12:53-12:58
You notice in Jesus' little story here, everyone heard.
13:01-13:02
Do you know what that tells me?
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That hearing the word of God is not enough.
13:11-13:16
You are expected to do what Jesus says.
13:17-13:18
Expected.
13:20-13:23
Right now, somebody's like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, timeout, timeout, timeout.
13:23-13:32
Pastor Jeff, this is sounding a lot like works, salvation." No.
13:35-13:37
The sermons are on the website.
13:38-13:39
Go back and listen again.
13:40-13:41
This is not about work salvation.
13:42-13:46
The whole Sermon on the Mount is about the kind of person that you are.
13:50-13:51
Have you been changed?
13:51-13:56
Do you look at these words of Jesus and recognize the wisdom?
14:02-14:12
Because when you do, when you've been transformed, when you see the wisdom of Jesus Christ, or you obey what He says because you want to.
14:13-14:16
You're like, "Yeah, His way is right.
14:17-14:24
He loves me. He knows better than me." This isn't about works.
14:24-14:25
This is about your heart.
14:27-14:28
Think of it this way.
14:28-14:32
Imagine that you're a parent of two kids.
14:34-14:41
And both of these kids tell you that they love you.
14:41-14:42
"You're the best parent ever.
14:42-14:52
I love you so much." One kid tries to follow your advice and always tries to do what you tell them to do.
14:54-15:02
But the other kid absolutely refuses to do anything that you tell them to do.
15:06-15:08
What do their actions say about their heart towards you?
15:10-15:10
You see?
15:14-15:17
Your actions reveal your heart towards Jesus.
15:19-15:20
And that's not my opinion.
15:22-15:23
That's Jesus' opinion.
15:25-15:27
Look what Jesus said in John 14, 15.
15:30-15:42
Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." Do you remember the five love languages?
15:44-15:44
Remember that?
15:48-15:50
Does anybody remember what all five love languages are?
15:52-15:52
What is it like?
15:53-16:03
Quality time, physical touch, all gifts, acts of service, all words of affirmation.
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You do remember that.
16:07-16:08
Well, did you know?
16:10-16:12
Did you know that Jesus has a love language?
16:16-16:18
Do you know what Jesus' love language is?
16:21-16:21
He told us.
16:22-16:23
That's obeying his commandments.
16:24-16:25
That's his love language.
16:26-16:48
Jesus says, "I know people love me when they trust me enough to do what I say." You see, as we go through the Sermon on the Mount, if you've been with us at all in this journey, you need to look back at these last few months and ask yourself, have I been striving to do what Jesus said to do?
16:49-16:53
Like Jesus said, we need to seek reconciliation with people.
16:53-16:54
Have you done that?
16:55-16:56
Have you reached out?
16:58-17:02
Jesus said, we need to cut off anything that causes us to lust.
17:02-17:03
Have you done that?
17:04-17:05
Are you obedient?
17:08-17:12
Jesus said, we need to love people who hate us.
17:15-17:16
You've been doing that?
17:18-17:21
Jesus said we must be a kind of people that aren't always looking to get even.
17:23-17:24
How are you doing there?
17:27-17:32
Jesus said we're to be people that give, storing treasure in heaven.
17:32-17:33
Have you been doing that?
17:36-17:43
Jesus said we shouldn't be critical of others, judging people's hearts.
17:44-17:44
How are you doing there?
17:46-17:54
The list goes on and on and on, but I just need to ask you, do you long to obey what Jesus tells us to do?
17:55-17:58
Are you growing to be more and more that kind of person?
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Or have you been living a life of disobedience and you just justify it?
18:09-18:10
My situation's different.
18:11-18:13
If Jeff knew my situation, he'd understand.
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This is why I do this.
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I know I shouldn't do this.
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I know Jesus said not to do this, but I have an excuse.
18:25-18:33
Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." You know, the negative of that is also true, right?
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I inserted a couple words here, inserted two negatives.
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If you don't love Me, you will not keep My commandments.
18:49-18:59
People ask all the time, and the questions come up quite a bit over these last few weeks, how do I know that I'm saved?
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How do I know that I'm saved?
19:06-19:07
Do you love Jesus?
19:10-19:11
Like, well, sure, sure I love Jesus.
19:13-19:14
Do you obey him?
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Listen very closely.
19:21-19:25
Obedience is the only validation that you have of salvation.
19:27-19:34
The only proof that you recognize the lordship of Jesus is by doing what he says.
19:35-19:42
The only evidence that you truly believe in the wisdom of His words is obedience.
19:42-19:52
The only proof, John 15, 10, the only proof that you abide in Jesus' love is when you obey His commandments.
19:58-20:03
Is your life marked by continual obedience to the Word of God?
20:03-20:09
None of us are perfect, but are we striving to grow in obedience to the Word of God?
20:10-20:25
When you read your Bible, when you hear a sermon, do you say, "Yeah, I'm going after that today." If that describes you, then your house is built on a rock.
20:28-20:33
Number two, if I built my house on a rock, well, is my house built on obedience?
20:33-20:46
Number two, "Will my house withstand the storms?" Look again, verse 25, talking about the rain on the wise man's house.
20:46-21:02
It says, "And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on the house and it did not fall because it had been pounded on the rock." Jump down to verse 27, talking about the foolish man's house.
21:02-21:17
It says, "Jesus said, 'The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.'" So you see, in Jesus' story, the day of reckoning came.
21:19-21:40
When storms come, we see what the houses are built upon, and some are going to stand, and some, according to our Lord, are going to fall." You know, it's funny, the foundation is the most important part of the house, and you can't even see it.
21:42-21:42
Right?
21:45-21:45
Like your heart.
21:47-21:50
Your heart is the most important part of you.
21:50-21:54
and how faithful are you to Jesus, really?
21:58-21:59
We'll find out.
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Notice Jesus said storms will come.
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By the way, they come to everyone.
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Don't think that by following Jesus, you are suddenly exempt.
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You're not.
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Storms come to everyone.
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And this is the point of Jesus' story.
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The one who obediently loves Jesus will stand, and the one who disregards obedience to Jesus, who lives life on their own terms, will fall.
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Your house is going to be tested.
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Your foundation is going to be tested.
22:50-22:55
Might be with an illness, yours or somebody very close to you.
22:57-23:01
Might be a financial loss, might be a job loss.
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Storms are coming.
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Might be persecution.
23:11-23:14
It might be the death of someone close to you.
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Storms are coming.
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So when the storms come, will you collapse?
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Will you fall into despair?
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Will you give up on seeking the Lord?
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There are people that say, "The pain is too great.
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The storm is too strong.
23:41-23:42
You know what?
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I can't handle it anymore.
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You know what?
23:45-23:55
I'm done with God because what's He ever done for me?" Your house just collapsed.
23:58-24:03
Or when the storms come, will you stand strong?
24:03-24:06
Will you experience God's presence like never before?
24:07-24:11
Will you seek support from God's people in God's church?
24:13-24:17
Will you say something like, "I'm going to get through this.
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Thank you, God, for your promises.
24:19-24:22
Thank you, God, for your peace through all of this.
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I know, I know God that nothing is happening to me that you didn't allow.
24:31-24:36
I know that you are using this to strengthen me.
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Ultimately, the storms speak of judgment.
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That's the theme of the whole close of the Sermon on the Mount.
24:52-24:55
Judgment. How can you have certainty of your house?
24:57-25:06
Then. By where you're building now.
25:10-25:14
By the way. Storms are good.
25:17-25:29
Storms are among God's greatest blessings to us, because storms will show you what you're really made of.
25:32-25:36
Don't you wanna know if your faith in Jesus is real?
25:36-25:37
Don't you wanna know?
25:41-25:46
Don't you wanna know if you're self-deceived and you don't really have biblical faith?
25:46-25:47
Don't you want to know?
25:48-25:53
Well, the only way that you know what you really believe is when the storms rock your house.
25:58-26:10
And when you're in the middle of a terrible storm, but you still love Jesus, you still find him worthy of following, even when it's hard, then your house is built on the rock.
26:14-26:17
So ask yourself, is my house built on obedience?
26:18-26:20
Will my house withstand the storms?
26:22-26:22
One more.
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Have I built my house under Jesus' authority?
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I love this.
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Look at these last two verses in chapter seven.
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It says that when Jesus finished these sayings, The crowds were astonished at his teaching.
26:48-26:50
Like, what?
26:50-26:54
They were just like, could you imagine hearing this for the first time?
26:56-26:58
Why were you so astonished, crowds?
26:58-26:59
Here it is, verse 29.
27:00-27:17
It says, "For he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes." They never heard anything like this.
27:17-27:26
Do you realize, I mean, we've been preaching this since February because we've been taking little tiny bites at a time, but this is a relatively short sermon.
27:27-27:32
And in this really short sermon, Jesus covered every area of life.
27:36-27:39
The scribes, you know, it mentions the scribes in verse 29.
27:40-27:43
Jesus spoke as one who had authority, not as their scribes.
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All the scribes ever did in Jesus' day was quote people.
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That's all they did.
27:50-27:50
That was their teaching.
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Well, so-and-so said this and so-and-so said this.
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So let me quote so-and-so.
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That's all they did.
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Jesus didn't do that.
27:58-28:11
Jesus said, "I say unto you, No wonder they were astonished.
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I mean, who says things like this?
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Do you realize the things that Jesus said about himself in this sermon?
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I mean, can you just imagine?
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Just please imagine with me, 'cause I've been doing this this week.
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Just imagine that you're sitting there and you hear this Jewish man get up and say things like, "People are gonna hate you because of me." Imagine this, listening to this Jewish man say, I came here to do everything the law and the prophets say.
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What?
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Imagine sitting there listening to this Jewish man say, "Hey, where you spend eternity entirely depends on your relationship with me." So, why should you listen to the Sermon on the Mount?
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Because of who preached it.
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Jesus has all authority.
29:52-30:09
And look, we can nod our heads at that in church, "Yes, Jesus has all authority, but is He your authority?" Because someone is your authority.
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Someone tells you what to do.
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And if you're like, no one tells me what to do, well, then it's you.
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You are your own authority, if that's your attitude.
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But if your life is built on obeying the authority of Jesus, then your house is built on the rock.
30:49-31:03
I think if our worship team would join me back up front, and we're gonna have some people in just a moment, they're gonna be standing in front of the stage who'll be available to pray with you.
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Listen, call back.
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Obedience is the only validation that you have of salvation.
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And I have to ask you, is there any area of your life where you have not been obedient?
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Have you been disobedient regarding money?
31:37-31:40
Have you been disobedient regarding lust?
31:40-31:45
Have you been disobedient regarding any relationship?
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Have you been unloving in any of your relationships?
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Here's the thing, I had this whole list, right?
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And then I realized, you know what?
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You know.
31:58-32:01
You know, just like I know, for me.
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You know right now what is a roadblock in your relationship with Jesus.
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You know right now if Jesus were standing before you and would say, "Have any sin we need to deal with?" You know exactly what he would be driving at.
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You know.
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You know right now where the Holy Spirit is telling you to repent.
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and let's not play the self-deceived game.
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Or we say, you know what I do, I do know.
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And look, look, Pastor Jeff, I'm going to.
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I'm planning to someday, someday I'm gonna give this up.
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Yeah, you know what, you're right.
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I know I need to do this.
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Someday I'm going to stop this.
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But you've been saying that for months.
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Some of you have been saying that for years and you're still doing it.
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Today.
33:08-33:08
Today.
33:09-33:11
You're gonna stop building on sand.
33:12-33:12
Today.
Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 7:24-29
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Explain Jesus’ analogy. What do the houses represent? The rock? The sand? The rain / flood?
Is saying “you must obey to Jesus’ commands” actually teaching works salvation? Why or why not?
In what ways are storms actually beneficial for us? What do they do for us?
How would you answer this question?: “How do I know if I am really saved?”
Breakout
Pray for one another.